anyone else feed road kill?

[Whiskey Bay]

I've fed dead frogs and such to the birds,but as far as actual roadkill I have fed it to the hogs.No I'm not talking about Wilbur or Babe type hogs.I mean 400+pound hogs we catch up hunting.They absolutely love eating meat.We just make sure no one falls in while feeding...

 

[Tropical Chook]

I personally can't see how anyone can say it's so wrong, or that it's not natural. In nature, if a flock of chickens came across some roadkill, they would eat it, just as nature intended. Chickens are scavengers whether we like to think so or not. Whenever I go into the run to do some maintenance, there are always about a dozen geckos hanging out, which I then swipe of the walls. As fast as what they are, not one has ever escaped the chickens. Free protein, and exceptionally good for the birds.

Having said all that, I do think I would be a bit hesitant when it comes to rodents, but that's just because I see them as being dirty creatures. Of course a squirrel is not a rat, and in my mind, it's a far cleaner animal than a rat, but I suppose there may be some risk of spreading disease, but a very small risk at best.


A clip taken from eMedTV:-

Rabies and Squirrels: An Overview
Squirrels are almost never found to be infected with the rabies virus. Squirrels also have not been known to cause rabies in humans within the United States. Bites from a squirrel are not considered a risk for rabies unless the animal was sick or behaving in an unusual manner, and rabies is widespread in the area.

In all cases regarding rabies and squirrels, consult the state or local health department before making a decision to begin rabies treatment.

What About Rabies in Other Rodents?
Besides squirrels, other small rodents (such as rats, mice, hamsters, guinea pigs, gerbils, and chipmunks,) and lagomorphs (such as rabbits and hares) are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have also not been known to cause rabies among humans in the United States.

 

[LizzyJo]

Only mammals can get rabies. If the road kill was full of worms and/or maggots the girls would love it!

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Nothing wrong with it. If I see it get hit it has been known to make it to our frying pan. If not the chickens or dogs get it.

 

[chicks4kids]

Quote:
I just said it was gross.....not wrong. Don't remember anyone saying it was wrong......just gross

 

[thebirdguy]

Dogs who eat dead squirrels (or even sniff them) can get mycotoxin intoxication that while treatable can be life threatening. I'm not sure if chickens can get this or not but I do know that squirrels may harbor parasites, which can be lethal to infants and young children. Internal parasites such as ascarid worms, tapeworms, flukes, and protozoa can cause debilitating and often fatal diseases in humans, while external parasites such as ticks and fleas transmit Rocky Mountain spotted fever, bubonic plague, and other serious diseases.

I personally would never take the chance of feeding anything to my animals that I did not know the source of. If I came across a bag of what appeared to be some sort of grain along side the road, I would never take it home and feed it to my animals. Road kill could have any number of contaminants from the road, cars passing, etc let alone any disease or hitchhiker that the animal was carrying before it was killed.

In nature, lots of animals eat lots of things that would kill our domesticated animals.. This is the same phenomena that a lot of people experience when drinking the water in Mexico... all the natives are just fine but that nice gringo sure did catch a severe case of Montezuma's revenge...

Same water--different tolerances... What a wild chicken, buzzard or other scavenger might survive just fine on, might easily overwhelm the systems of our domesticated chickens.

Just my two cents....

 

[1Chick Magnet]

I am a truck driver and see lots of road kill. 17 years worth. I must say it has never occured to me to pick any up for any reason.

I love this topic.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I would NEVER feed my chickens roadkill.

I'd keep it for myself!

Squashed Squirrel Stew.... my favorite!

 

[Tropical Chook]

Quote:
If your birds free range, and you live out in the country, your birds are more than likely eating more ticks than you can imagine. I a study carried out in South Africa, it was established how many ticks chickens eat on average, in areas where ticks are present. Both my dogs pick up ticks, and even though I have tried everything possible, I have never managed to rid the property of ticks, and while I always find some on my dogs, I've yet to find one on my chickens. What I do know though, is that we have far less ticks since our birds started free ranging.

Eating rodents - If a mouse or rat got into your run or coop and the hens managed to injure it, they would eat it, as others have pointed out here

 

[Shannoniganshens]

My chickens, kill birds and mice and bring them back to the coop, you know the drill one has it and everyone is chasing behind to steal it from her, I catch them, I'm out there trying to take it from the one who has the kill!!!! It's hard to look at breakfast the same, some days but this is their nature